This round I am using photos to tell a story or share an idea. Some of the pictures might be old and sometimes I will use more recent photos.

K is for Karen

Okay that isn’t really me. That is my very own Build-A-Bear – Patty O’Bear but I created her to reflect me or at least the me at the time I created her. She is wearing her homeschool mom denium jumper. She also has her big purse to carry not only her stuff but the stuff needed for being ready for anything the children might need. And finally she has her supplies for scrapbooking (of course that was before digital.)

2005

So here are a bunch of random shots taken over the years from baby girl to old lady. I decided to be brave and share. I also resolve to do a better job of letting myself get in the picture this year so that my children can remember that yes we actually had a mother.

So here I am daughter, wife, mother, homeschooler, daycare worker, scrapper, reader, and life long learner.

One of my favorite photos this week for the Instagram Challenge was the one of books that I chose to represent memories. My memory of books is very powerful and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the prompt.

The books in the photo this week are books that I used when schooling my children when they were little. the are mix of Five in a Row stories and Sonlight Curriculum. Just looking those books reminds of those special reading times when they were little.

Some of my earliest memories of books are of my mother reading to me as a child. We had a tradition of reading the same stories every Christmas. One of the collections was from Golden Books and you can still see the marks she made to customize some of the stories first for me and then for both my sister and I. To re-read those same stories to my own children helps to keep the memory of my mother alive.

I also remember the joy of reading for myself. I don’t remember learning to read or a time when I didn’t read. There are lots of pictures of me curled up with a book. My favorite place for reading when I was growing up was at the top of the Brazilian Pepper tree that was in our backyard. I could sit up there for hours reading.

I remember reading Little Woman on a train trip to Illinois with my grandmother when I was in middle school.

The joy of reading to my children has always carried special memories and remember the first time any of my children read to me was so very special.

When I started homeschooling I remember being told that if you read to your children they would be readers and that hasn’t always played out like I thought it would. My oldest has always loved books although it took a little bit of time for him to have it click for him. But my second born seemed to struggle with reading. As I’ve shared before it took eye therapy and a lots of patience but reading finally came. The rest can read but never seemed to develop the same deep love for reading that I’ve had but I’m sure they all have special books and memories if I were to ask them.